Barry Allen and the Order of Comparisons
by M1ssUnd3rst4nd1ng
Summary: Team Flash spends a late night patrol comparing themselves and their friends to characters from Harry Potter, with some surprising results. Not a crossover, but knowledge of HP would be helpful.


****Disclaimer: I do not own _The Flash_ , _Arrow_ , _Supergirl_ , _Legends of Tomorrow_ , or _Harry Potter_ , or any associated characters, settings, items, or events; all rights belong to their respective creators. I also do not claim the opinions of fictional characters fictitiously given by other fictional characters in this work of fiction as my own.****

 ** **This is not technically a crossover, because everything pertaining to Harry Potter is fiction in this work, but a fair amount of knowledge of the characters, plot, and world of Harry Potter may be necessary to understand it and there are spoilers for pretty much the entire series, so if you haven't read or watched it . . .****

 ** **Set early season three, post Invasion!, post the discovery of Alchemy's identity, post Killer Frost (first run), post Wally getting powers, before Iris's prophesied death and before Caitlin joined Savitar, but otherwise in a somewhat nebulous timeframe.****

 ** **Cover art by the super-magically-talented Phoebe594. She made over a dozen different versions, and I may have ended up choosing this one but they were all so fantastic! Many thanks to her for all her hard work! (Also, you should check out her stuff.)****

* * *

Team Flash had always been kinda chatty during patrol—they were all friends, most of them (or at least half now) were nerds, and some of them were people . . . people. Or people persons. Plus, given Barry's speed and the Flash's reputation, there were boring stretches in the middle. It didn't help that patrols were usually late at night and generally involved Barry out alone (sometimes with Wally, lately) and Cisco, Caitlin, and Iris all alone in the massive S.T.A.R. Labs building, except H.R. who was usually off doing his own thing then; there was a sense of disconnectedness from reality, a freedom to the whole thing (like the internet, or a slumber party, Cisco mused). Now that they'd gotten through that rough patch of Cisco fighting with Barry and Caitlin keeping secrets, they all had an extra appreciation for the easy conversation they had once shared and they missed their friends, Cisco realized, even though they'd been physically there the whole time, so they'd been even more chatty lately.

Movies, comic books, tv shows, and other nerdy media were common topics of conversation and debate; everything from quality to characters to comparisons to other media to the science in the sci-fi came under their collective scrutiny. They had just had another such debate, in this instance a debate about the latest Harry Potter spin-off, when Cisco put out an idea that had been swirling around the back of his mind off and on for who knows how long. He offered it now as something of an olive branch to Barry and something of an acknowledgment to himself.

"Hey, anyone here ever think how much Barry and Harry Potter are alike? Their first names even sound the same."

Barry, alone on patrol tonight, was silent through the comms. In the cortex, Caitlin and Iris both looked at Cisco at the sudden pronouncement, Caitlin frowning thoughtfully but not dismissing the idea, Iris still partially distracted by the article she'd been writing on her laptop. "What?" was all Iris said.

"How am I like Harry Potter?" came Barry's voice a moment later, curt and a bit breathless as he was currently running.

"Okay, I think the comment about the names is throwing you off," Cisco acknowledged. "You're the chosen one, man! A hero recognized by the symbol of a lightning bolt, sometimes adored by the public, sometimes hated, but there isn't a child in this world who doesn't know your name."

"Haha," Barry returned sarcastically.

"He's not entirely wrong," Caitlin put in consideringly.

"I can sort of see it, superficially, at least," Iris said, in a similar tone.

"Shh," Cisco said, with an elaborate shushing motion, "leave this one to those of us who obsess over this sort of thing. Caitlin, you have something to add?"

"Well, I mean . . ." she trailed off, biting her lip nervously. "There's the similarity in your seeing your mother killed when you were a child, in a flash of colored light, by a man who came to your house that night to try to prevent you from stopping him in the future. One could make the argument that future 'destiny' and prophecy are similar, thus making you 'destined' in the same way Harry was. Harry Potter, I mean."

"That's—" Barry seemed unable to continue, wanting to argue, but not having a valid disagreement.

"And," Cisco persisted, "the same person who killed your mother came back into your life years later disguised as a kindly teacher."

"And no one believed you when you said he existed," Caitlin put in.

"And he taught you how to use your meta powers, which are basically your version of magic," Cisco continued.

"And you _were_ raised by someone who wasn't your birth parent," Iris added, closing her laptop and getting into it. Cisco mock-applauded and she rolled her eyes.

"You wear red and gold, when you're in uniform," Cisco said.

"Your mother was even a redhead," Iris suggested.

"And she and your father had the same profession," Caitlin said. "James and Lily Potter fought in the war together; that's sort of the same thing."

"I—" Barry tried. "Okay, you make valid points, I guess, but—"

"You're a wizard, Barry," Cisco intoned. Then he snorted, "The boy who ran."

Both women rolled their eyes at him and he suspected Barry did as well.

"Actually," Iris pointed out, "The Boy Who Lived works, too. You survived something no one expected you to."

"And that's what gave you the lightning bolt symbol you're identified by! Just like Harry!" Cisco exclaimed.

"You fight crime more or less in secret, often having to sneak away from authority figures," Caitlin said.

Cisco pointed at her. "Yes. And with the help of two good friends—a boy and a girl—and sometimes your girlfriend. And on some occasions other friends. But the point is, I'm Ron: I'm _da bomb_ at chess, I like Quidditch, and I am _seriously_ underappreciated around here."

Caitlin hummed. "Barry's the bottomless eater, though."

"But Cisco likes his snacks," Iris defended.

" _Thank_ you," Cisco told her.

"I guess, if you compare their eating habits and take into account their differing metabolisms . . ." Caitlin considered.

"Very Hermione thing for you to say," Cisco said. He turned his attention back to the others. "Caitlin is Hermione. She's smart, passionate—"

"The mom friend," Iris cut in.

"Normally pretty serious, but when she lets loose she goes big," Barry said. "I can totally see that."

"And Hermione was hardcore," Cisco said. Caitlin raised an eyebrow. "Oh, come on. Don't take this the wrong way, but setting Snape on fire and trapping Rita Skeeter in a jar are totally things your frosty side would do." Caitlin's mouth thinned and Cisco tried to dig himself out. "Maybe even your normal side?" he joked. It failed, so he went straight to apology. "I'm sorry. Too soon."

Caitlin _hmmphed_.

"Wait," Iris said, breaking the awkward tension, "correct me if I'm wrong, but Ron and Hermione were, like, a _thing_ , weren't they?"

Barry's smirk was evident through the speakers. "You two have something you want to share?"

Caitlin and Cisco shared disgusted looks.

"That is never happening."

"I love you like a sister."

"Aww, I think you two would be cute together," Iris teased. "Make little genius babies."

Barry snorted. "Hugo and Rose will be adorable."

"Iris is Ginny, of course," Cisco said, a little too loudly. Barry laughed, and Caitlin looked relieved.

Iris, on the other hand, frowned. "The redheaded fangirl who was mind-controlled by Voldemort?"

"Hey!" Cisco exclaimed, in pre-emptive self-defense at the prospect of another woman glaring at him in the space of a few minutes or in offense at the slight towards the character, even he wasn't sure. "She was Harry's fiery high school sweetheart and the only girl he ever really loved." He leaned into the microphone and announced, "Barry, your girl needs to read the books."

Barry huffed. "I keep telling her that."

"Ginny was also strong and smart, top of her field and fully aware she didn't need a man," Caitlin assured Iris. "And you'd look good as a redhead. I think it's actually a good fit. Ginny _definitely_ would have punched Girder."

"And don't deny you were a Flash fangirl at the beginning," Barry teased.

"And she had the big bad haunting her for a year, wanting to steal her soul . . ." Cisco pointed out.

There was a moment of silence in which Barry's heart rate spiked, Iris looked away, jaw going tense, and Caitlin got all soft and sympathetic towards Iris and all disappointed mom towards him, and Cisco kicked himself. Abruptly, he changed topics.

"You realize this makes Joe Arthur Weasley, right?"

Iris smiled a little. "Because he's Ginny's dad?"

"He's also Ron's dad," Caitlin said, looking at Cisco.

Iris raised an eyebrow at the reminder and he could _hear_ Barry's silence through the comms. He rolled his eyes. "Oh, like he doesn't dad everyone around here all the time."

"That's true," Caitlin agreed.

"I'm gonna tell him you said that," Iris threatened jokingly.

"I'm prepared to back it up," Cisco responded, unconcerned. "If he doesn't want people to call him a dad, he needs to stop making dad jokes and handing out advice all over the place."

There was a pause as Barry stopped a bank robbery; no one wanted to distract him while he was dodging bullets and they couldn't think of anything else while he was anyway, even if his powers were almost certain to keep him alive.

Or at least, no one in the cortex could think of anything but the danger Barry was in.

Almost the moment the gunshots stopped sounding, the man in question's voice came over the line, sounding very much like he'd been thinking about this for a while. "Ronnie was Victor Krum." Caitlin froze, blinking. Barry stopped to tell someone to call the police and tell them he was waiting, then came back. "He adored . . . _Hermione_ and he was one of those guys that every girl wanted and every guy wanted to be and was still somehow genuinely nice."

" _That's_ what you were thinking about while you were facing armed robbers?" Cisco asked, more to get a smile from Caitlin than anything. It worked.

"You started it," Barry shot back. "And I can outrun bullets and think at the same time."

"That's very Gryffindor thinking," Caitlin teased.

"I don't need your judgment, Ravenclaw."

Cisco had to wonder what the bad guys and civilians surrounding the speedster thought of his side of the conversation.

The night slowed down after that, as both Team Flash and the bad guys got progressively more tired. Iris left, having an early start the next day, and there were only a few suggestions of character comparisons between long stretches of companionable silence.

"I think Jay is Sirius," was one of Barry's. "He showed up after having been imprisoned somewhere terrible; he gives advice, but doesn't really stick around; and he's—" The pause was audible. "He's a connection to my dad, in a different way, but . . ."

Cisco and Caitlin exchanged glances.

"And he was involved in a case of mistaken identity," Caitlin suggested gently.

"And Hunter Zolomon was the real rat," Cisco added, just a bit viciously.

And later, "Bad metas are Death Eaters."

"Agreed."

And, "So is Wally the twins, then?" Cisco asked. "A jokester who tends to surprise people when they find out he's smart. And, like, _really_ good at those magic meta abilities."

"Wally's Speedster Wheezes," Caitlin joked.

Or, "Harry—our Harry—is Snape, isn't he?" Caitlin mused. "Kind of a jerk, but not evil. But he did work for the bad guy for a while, and then he was undercover with the same bad guy for a while, because he regretted Barry—Harry Potter in this analogy—getting hurt as a result of what he did."

Cisco grunted. "And he taught Barry about his powers, too."

"What about H.R., then?" Caitlin asked.

"Lockhart," Barry and Cisco said simultaneously.

Cisco elaborated. "Also a teacher, and a writer, and kind of ridiculous. But he apparently has fangirls back on Earth-19, for some reason beyond the understanding of mere mortals on _any_ earth. Plus, he _has_ had a habit of taking credit for stuff that wasn't really his."

There was a long moment of silence, then Barry said, "We better stop finding Wellses, because eventually we're gonna get to Umbridge." Cisco and Caitlin shuddered and muttered deprecations.

Not much later, Barry called it quits for the night, appearing in the cortex and flopping into a chair with a protein bar. Caitlin grabbed him a water bottle and they settled into their post-patrol routine, a moment of peace before they all headed their separate ways.

Reclining in his chair, Cisco broke the silence with, "I think we're forgetting someone big. Draco Malfoy."

"Who do we know that's an analog to Draco Malfoy?" Barry asked, frowning thoughtfully.

There was a moment of thoughtful silence. "Well," Cisco eventually said, slow and considering, "you and Julian do have kind of a rivalry." Barry choked on his snack and Caitlin moved to help him, handing him a second water bottle before rolling her eyes at Cisco.

"Don't be ridiculous," she said. "Julian isn't Draco Malfoy."

"He _is_ Barry's rival, and he hates that the Flash gets fame for what he does," Cisco said, gaining steam in his theory the more he thought about it. "And didn't you say he grew up rich, in some kind of snobby, old money family? And he has that whole thing with last names—says 'Allen' pretty much the same way Malfoy said 'Potter.' And he thinks you get away with everything because people have some sort of misconception that you're a saint. And he's kind of a jerk, and he _was_ actually controlled by a villain who wanted the Philosopher's Stone at one point. And didn't Savitar call himself 'the Dark Lord' once or twice?"

"His followers did, mostly Alchemy," Barry said distractedly. He had been shaking his head and both he and Caitlin were frowning skeptically the whole time Cisco was trying to make his point, and now he said, in a more focused way, "Sorry, man. Look, Julian's not my favorite person, but Draco Malfoy? I just don't see it."

"He didn't work for Savitar willingly, or even knowingly," Caitlin pointed out. "And yes, the argument could be made that Draco wasn't really willing either, but ultimately he made a choice and Julian didn't _have_ a choice."

"And we don't really have that much of a rivalry anymore," Barry added.

"He's on Team Flash! And he's not trying to be mean, he's just kind of brusque. And awkward," Caitlin defended. "He really is a very caring person, he's just bad at expressing it."

"And he doesn't have meta abilities, which is our equivalent of magic. In fact, he's kinda wary of people who do," Barry said. "And he calls people 'mate' a lot; Draco Malfoy would never do that."

"Okay, okay, I get it," Cisco conceded. "There's no way Julian is Draco Malfoy."

"No way," Caitlin agreed. "Plus, he doesn't look remotely like him."

"Wait a minute!" Cisco exclaimed. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! I know who's Draco Malfoy." He looked at Barry and Caitlin to be sure he had their complete attention. "It's Oliver." They both frowned and made to protest, but Cisco held up his hand to forestall them. "Listen," he began, words spilling out quickly and all jumbled as he thought and spoke at the same time, "he can be really mean sometimes, and he's very practical, and end-justifies-the-means kind of thing, and he's not a great people person, and he lies a lot, and he can be pretty manipulative, and he's all about strategy, and checking the perimeter before you even think about moving and all that. And you gotta admit, he's done some pretty dark stuff none of us really want to think about." He paused. And frowned. "And he insists on green, no matter what the experts say."

"By experts, you mean you," Barry said.

"Obviously."

"I hate to say it, but I think you might have a point," Caitlin said. Barry made to protest again, but she spoke over him. "And you've always had something of a rivalry, however friendly. And shooting you in the back in training—as part of a trick, no less—just to prove a point, does seem like a very Draco Malfoy thing to do. I would say he's definitely a Slytherin, at the very least. And he did grow up in a family known for being incredibly wealthy. And the past few years, for being incredibly involved in some shady things."

Barry grudgingly conceded the point. "If you ask Felicity, his mother was definitely all Slytherin. And his dad got involved with someone who had a master plan to kill 'undesirables,' and by default got Oliver's mom involved when he failed. Oh, and Oliver talks about his dad pretty often, like Malfoy, but we didn't even know who Julian's dad _was_ until you researched him. And Oliver has a lot of pride in his family name."

"Overall, Oliver's a much better candidate for a Draco Malfoy analog than _Julian_ ," Caitlin decided.

"Although," Cisco said, dragging the word out consideringly, "he's less 'Slytherin Prince' and more 'Slytherin Queen,' get it?" Barry threw an empty water bottle at him.

Then stopped, tilted his head, and said, "So wait, does that make Team Arrow House Slytherin—?"

"And we're House Gryffindor!" Cisco shouted.

"Kara and her friends are definitely House Hufflepuff, regardless of color affiliation," Barry continued.

"Which makes Team Legends House Ravenclaw," Caitlin concluded, "which makes sense considering the number of doctorates aboard their ship."

"And combined, that makes us Dumbledore's Army," Cisco decided. "And that place we trained in when those aliens invaded, that can be our Room of Requirement. Or Hogwarts in general."

Having reached a consensus, they mutually decided to head home for the night, but not before sending out a summary of their conclusions to Felicity and Ray, addressed to "House Slytherin" and "House Ravenclaw" respectively.

(On the other side of the country, Overwatch refused to tell the Green Arrow what, exactly, she found so amusing, only telling him, slightly hysterically, that he'd never _ferret_ it out of her.)

(Felicity also immediately sent a reply informing Cisco that he _needed_ to make coins to signal a meeting, including a half-page rambling summary of the practical purposes of such a thing in a situation such as theirs. Ray's later reply offered his expertise in miniature tech and in reaching through the time stream in their construction.)

Cisco waited long enough after they left that he was certain Caitlin would be home before sending her a text: "Too bad we couldn't agree that Julian was Draco. I would have shipped Dramione in that case."

Then a moment later, "H.R. could write the fanfiction."

She would kill him tomorrow, but he went to bed with a smile.

His last, distracted thought before falling asleep was that this was just like that reconciliation in fourth year, after Ron had blamed Harry for something that wasn't really his fault and refused to speak to him.

* * *

 **So I find it funny that with all the similarities between Julian Albert and Draco Malfoy, including the fact that they are both played by Tom Felton, there's not one mention of it in canon. We know the movies exist in this universe, we know a number of the characters are aware and at least somewhat knowledgeable about the world, and we know that Cisco is enough of a fan to have handcrafted a replica wand to take with him to a convention, and yet nothing. Not even from Cisco, the man who calls people by fictional character's names fairly often. I wonder if they specifically avoided it because he was played by Tom Felton; if, maybe if Julian had been played by a different actor, they would have made at least one sarcastic remark regarding the resemblance of the personalities and backstories, if nothing else.**

 **I thought to myself, wouldn't it be funny if they _almost_ got it . . . and then just went, "nah, that's ridiculous." And then I thought, it would be even funnier if they then concluded someone else reminded them of Draco Malfoy for reasons that were less substantial (but then they actually turned to be not quite as insubstantial as I expected when I initially came up with "Oliver wears green, it's him"). I also find it amusing to imagine Oliver, for his birthday a few months later or for Christmas, or both, getting several Slytherin scarves and other memorabilia and having no idea why.**

 **For the record, Wells 2.0 is definitely Mad Eye Moody, he just hasn't appeared yet when this is set. And as for Jay Garrick being Sirius Black, well, one could also make comparisons between going into the Speed Force and entering the Veil, but that hasn't happened yet, either.**

 **I'd love to hear any other ideas anyone has about further comparisons! As always, comments, critiques, and constructive criticism are more than welcome as I am always looking to improve.**

 **Have a sumptuous day, brethren!**

 **M1ssUnd3rst4nd1ng**


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